College Football

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Steve Sarkisian is the Right Choice at UW

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="157" caption="New Huskie coach Sarkisian"]New Huskie coach Sarkisian [/caption]

Not that I think anybody read my posts on the subject, but I’m still glad that the University of Washington followed my advice and hired Steve Sarkisian, the offensive coordinator at Southern Cal, as their new football coach. Like I said before , UW wasn’t getting themselves a first-rate coach in their current predicament. The one potential exception was Mike Leach from Texas Tech, if only because he’s thought to be enough of a cantankerous coot that he couldn’t get a job to match his stature. I still say he was a non-starter and that the Texas Tech position is as prestigious as the UW job, if only while Leach has it.

In any case, there’s no guarantee that Sarkisian will work out, but he’s exactly the sort of hire that Washington needed to make, so kudos to them for doing the right thing. God, trying to care for this program is hard, let something go right for them!

12Dec2008 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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Wishing Ill on My Bulldogs

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="169" caption="Knowshon, but for how long?"]Knowshon, but for how long?[/caption]

The Georgia Bulldogs ended their season last week with a 45-42 loss to Ga. Tech, in Athens no less. I know, it’s far too late to break the game down; fine, don’t wanna. (My bumper sticker of choice in college said “Avoid the rush, hate Tech now.” So, yeah.) I just want to take a moment to suggest that this was a gift in disguise for the Bulldogs as a program. The only thing better, in my mind, is if the Dawgs go out and lose their bowl game. I won’t actually be able to bring myself to root against them, but I’m as sure about this as pro fans who hope their mediocre team (I’m looking at you, Seahawks) will go in the tank to secure a high draft position. Let me exaplain why.

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8Dec2008 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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Auburn’s Coaching Search is More Bad News for Washington

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="166" caption="Thanks, Tom!"]Thanks, Tom![/caption]

Tommy Tuberville’s decided to resign from Auburn University recently; at least, that’s what the AD says. Whether he quit or was fired, though, this is bad news for the University of Washington. After the Tennessee job was filled, UW could at least position itself as the job vacancy with the most reflected glory attached to it; after all, UW has half of a national championship to its name in the last twenty years, and has been bowl-competitive in the last decade. True, the current sustained awfulness makes the job a lot less desirable to anyone who doesn’t want a massive clean-up job, but Huskies could at least kid themselves into thinking that  Mike Leach, for example, would see a once-proud Pac-10 program as an upgrade from Texas Tech.

Now, though, that’s just ridiculous. At least until Auburn gets filled, the idea that a successful coach with dreams of performing on a bigger stage would take an 0-12 Pac-10 doormat over a 5-7 Auburn team that was competitive even this year, nevermind the recent past, is absurd. (h/t Andy Schlafly.)  Which takes us back to my previous advice (’cause this is all about me, never forget…) that UW find itself a smart, hungry assistant from an established program and give them a bigger promotion than they might normally deserve. Taking a chance on somebody with good intangibles but no resume is their best shot at a fast(ish) turn around.

4Dec2008 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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Georgia - Florida, and Urban’s Way: Unnecessary Fussin’

This week is the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party; go spit, SEC, that’s what it’s called, and I don’t even drink. Before I get into what’s on my mind, a little refresher for those of you insensitive enough not to keep up with such heady affairs. Last year, in an effort to get the Bulldogs fired up in the face of a nearly-unbroken chain of defeats in the last 10-15 years, Georgia coach Mark Richt told the team that if there wasn’t a penalty called for unnecessary celebration after the first Georgia score, the team would be running sprints the next day.

Well.

Georgia scored an early touchdown, and the entire team ran out and into the end zone. Now, Coach Richt says that he only expected the players on the field to participate; others call “bullshit.” Personally, I’m not sure but I suspect cow patties may, indeed, be involved. Whatever. Georgia won that day, and the nation’s sports media ate up both the event and the Gators’ fuming about. And yes, I think the Gators have a point - the coach telling his players intentionally to incur penalties is not a smooth move.

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28Oct2008 | John | Comments Off | Continued
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Ty Willingham is Leaving - Now What, UW?

As has been widely reported, Tyrone Willingham is stepping down at the end of the season. If you’ve been following UW football at all this year, this is absolutely no shock to anyone. Many folks were surprised that he kept his job after last year, and as the losses piled up the expectations grew that he’d be fired in the middle of the year. UW, however, doesn’t think of itself as that kind of institution, and so they offer him a graceful exit. That’s fine; as a caller to KJR said, there’s not much difference between an interim coach with no shot at the job and Willingham playing out the string.

The problem, as I listened to KJR (I love the sports radio in Seattle), is that Husky fans think that they’re going to hook a 1st rate, established coach. The head coach at Missouri(!), Gary Pinkel, came up a couple of time. Folks, get real. Washington has been awful for years now, it has outdated facilities, and it has to recruit against Oregon, Cal, and USC in the Pacific Northwest; no established, successful coach is going to want this gig right now.

I have three words for you, Husky fans: Mark Muthafuckin’ Richt.

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27Oct2008 | John | Comments Off | Continued